John Nickum has over 45 years experience working in the field of fisheries as a researcher, educator, program administrator, and writer-editor. His experience includes serving as a major professor for more than 30 graduate students, coordinating national and international programs in fish health and aquaculture, and representing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at national and international levels.All of these functions provided experience in the preparation and editing of concise, scientifically valid written documents, as well as, skill in interpersonal communications. During the teaching and research component of his career, the culture, management, and biology of the walleye were primary areas of focus for him, his research associates, and graduate students.Dr. Nickum served as a co-editor of Propagated Fish in Resource Management, and also as the Chair of the UFR Committee that wrote the AFS Guidelines for the Use of Fishes in Research.

Mary Nickum has 40 years experience as a librarian, educator, information resource manager, and writer/editor in fisheries and natural history. She has edited four technical jounals including, The Progressive Fish-Culturist, The FWRS Newsletter, World Aquaculture and The Intermountain Journal of Sciences. More notably, she was Senior Editor of Propagated Fish in Resource Management, American Fisheries Society Symposium 44and Copy Editor of FAO/DANIDA/NMFS HACCP Seminar Proceedings. Ms. Nickum has had recent and direct experience working successfully in and with the AFS editorial office. Ms. Nickum has extensive experience with peer reviewed publications and one-on-one contact with authors. She has proven experience meeting publication deadlines.

Mary is a retired librarian, who is now an editor and freelance writer. Her primary focus is on science for the public. She has chosen to extend her science for the public outreach to children.

Mary earned a B.A. degree in English education at Northland College, Ashland, Wisconsin, a Masters in Librarianship at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington and a Masters in Interdisciplinary Studies from Oregon State University. She worked as a science librarian at US Environmental Protection Agency, National Water Quality Laboratory in Duluth, MN, as Oceanography/Zoology librarian at Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR and as Project Manager of the Fish and Wildlife Reference Service in Rockville, MD.

She is a former editor of The Progressive Fish-Culturist, Editor-in-Chief of the Intermountain Journal of Science, and currently edits the World Aquaculture magazine.

Her first book for children and their families, Mom’s Story; A Child Learns About MS, tells the story of a young girl who sees her mother with some frightening health problems and learns she has MS but she will not die from it.